Grilled Cheese Waffles and Tomato Soup

I woke up to thunder and pouring rain this morning, rolled over and pulled the blankets up, deciding right then and there that I was staying in bed all day.

But then I realized that I only had 4 days left of summer vacation and I didn't want to waste one in bed.

The smell of breakfast cooking helped get me up (I am a really lucky girl because this happens more often than not), then we hit the gym for a much needed workout since I was out of town for the past 2 days, and went to the store to find something to make for supper.

Rainy days almost always mean warm comfort food days for me so I decided to try making homemade tomato soup for the first time, and it was so easy and turned out great! And since I have never eaten tomato soup without a grilled cheese sandwich I had to get creative for that as well. I can't eat gluten free bread because they all have yeast in them so I whipped up my waffle recipe (post with it here), made some thin waffles, put some cheddar cheese between them, then put them in a pan like you would for a normal grilled cheese sandwich. Holy smokes was it good!!! 

Tomato Soup
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
5 plum tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 carton chicken stock
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour (I used a gluten free blend)
1 cup milk (I used skim)
2 tsp. white sugar
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar or cooking sherry
1 small can of tomato paste
salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. basil (I used dry)

1. Add oil to a pot on medium heat. Once heated add the onion and garlic. Cook until soft. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock. Simmer for 25-30 minutes.
2. Using an immersion blender (or regular blender, in batches) blend the mixture until smooth. I thought the soup was too chunky so I put the mixture through a strainer after blending.
3. In a second small pot melt the butter, then add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Slowly add the milk while whisking to combine it all. Add a ladle of the soup mixture to this mixture one at a time to temper the milk so it won't curdle.
4. Add the milk mixture to the soup pot and whisk it all together. Add the tomato paste, sugar, sherry, salt, pepper, and basil and bring to a simmer for 5 more minutes.